How to Heat a Warehouse

Whether you’re moving into a new location, designing a brand-new facility, or working to solve a heating issue before winter rears its frigid head, knowing how to heat your warehouse is essential. Your employees need to be able to work in a comfortable environment, and freezing temperatures could harm your products.

That said, heating a warehouse isn’t as easy as some people might imagine. It’s not like you can just flip a switch on the heater like you would in a residential space. There are many special considerations you must make when figuring out how to heat a warehouse.

Special Considerations for Heating a Warehouse

If you want to heat your warehouse properly and avoid crucial mistakes, you have to choose the appropriate heating solution the first time. To do that, you need to understand the complexities of warehouse heating. 

Here are the most critical factors you have to consider when choosing the right heating solution for your warehouse:

Heat Distribution

Heat distribution is absolutely crucial when choosing a heating system. Heat travels through the air. So, as you might imagine, common warehouse items like racks and shelves can obstruct airflow, preventing the heat from dispersing evenly.

Without even distribution, your products and employees will suffer. To avoid this, try to place your heater in a place that will evenly distribute heat throughout the warehouse, regardless of the various obstacles.

Racks

Racks are a relatively common piece of equipment used in warehouses. They serve as a tool for product organization that also helps you conserve floor space. Of course, even empty racks can create problems for heat distribution.

Since getting rid of your racks is not a reasonable solution to your heating problem, you have to think of a way around it. As a result, you might have to consider heating solutions that generate heat from an area free of obstructions.

Floor Space

Of course, you also have to consider floor space. Racks are crucial to a warehouse setup because they allow you to conserve space. The same principle should apply to your heating solutions.

You shouldn’t purchase a heating system that takes up a significant amount of floor space. Floor space is extremely valuable, so you have to use it wisely. If you don’t have the floor space to spare for a robust heating system, you might opt for a system that is mounted on the wall or ceiling or installed below your feet.

High Ceilings and Wasted Energy

Warehouses are typically relatively large, making them more difficult to heat than an average building. Additionally, they also often have high ceilings, which just adds to that complication. The more space you have, the more challenging it is to create adequate heat distribution.

In the likelihood that you achieve even heat distribution throughout your warehouse, you now have another problem. Since your employees won’t be working near the ceiling, that’s a lot of empty space you’re trying to heat, which equates to lots of wasted energy.

Destratification is a fancy term that describes the recirculation of unused warm air. To achieve this, you can simply install industrial fans on the ceiling of your warehouse that will send all that rising heat back to the ground. This will ensure you’re not wasting energy to heat a space no one is going to occupy.

4 Warehouse Heating Options

Heating your warehouse isn’t simple, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. Here are four effective heating options you should consider for your warehouse:

1. Direct-Fire Heaters

Direct-fire heaters utilize fire created by the burning of gas or oil. Cold air is drawn into the unit, passes directly through the flames (warming it), and is dispersed throughout the warehouse. The highest quality versions of direct-fire systems can be mounted on the wall or ceiling to avoid common obstructions without taking up floor space.

2. Indirect-Fire Heaters

Indirect-fire heaters are like direct-fire heaters in both warehouse placement and fuel type, however they utilize their fire a little differently. Instead of putting the air through the flames directly, the fire heats up something called a “heat exchanger.” The air is then passed through the heat exchanger before being dispersed, so it never directly contacts the fire or its fuel source.

3. Electric Element Unit Heaters

Electric element unit heaters are like direct- and indirect-fire heaters, except they don’t generate heat by burning gas or oil. Instead, their internal coils are heated using electricity. Just like the others, the highest quality versions of these heating systems can be installed on your warehouse wall or ceiling.

4. Radiant Floor Heating

If you want to pursue a cost-effective heating solution that doesn’t take up valuable space within your warehouse, consider radiant floor heating. This heating system is installed directly on the subfloor of your warehouse, beneath your floors, and creates heat using electricity.

Instead of circulating heated air through vents on the ceiling or walls, radiant floor heating warms the floor and allows the heat to naturally rise through the air. This way, you get an even distribution of heat throughout your warehouse, no matter the layout.

Radiant floor heating is the ideal heating solution for warehouses, as it’s incredibly effective, energy-efficient, and cost-efficient. Instead of wasting heat on the space 6’ and above, radiant floor heating efficiently holds and radiates heat from the slab, heating the space occupied by people.

It can also be used with other heating options to provide thorough and evenly distributed heat for even the harshest weather conditions.

Heat Your Warehouse with the Most Discreet and Cost-Effective Solution

If you’re looking for the most cost-effective and discreet heating solution for your warehouse, then you’ve come to the right place. Warmup is an industry leader in commercial heating and provides professional radiant floor heating services at unbeatable prices. Get a free quote today!